I didn't really appreciate monster bars until last summer, when our good friend Bryant introduced us to the ultimate version. He graciously obtained the recipe for me, and now, I'm going to share it with you.
Are you excited? ... I would be, if I were you.
Bryant, this one's for you.
Okay, off we go.
blend
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar.
put in one of your mix cd's to keep you company while you create.
i selected kitchen september '08 featuring norah jones & the singin' in the rain soundtrack.
scoop 1 1/2 c. peanut butter.
scrape it out into the mix.
beat it, just beat it.
until it gets all fused & smelling heavenly.
then add in 3 eggs.
and whip it.
whip it good.
now for some teeny, tiny, hugely important steps that were not photographed...
stir in: 1 tsp vanilla & 2 tsp baking soda
then toss in 4 1/2 cups oatmeal, and start up the stirring again.
demolish oatmeal mountain.
wait for the mix to mingle, meld, & merge.
then use your favorite side-scraping tupperware spatch to get it tidied up.
pick your poison.
i chose m&m's leftover from Christmas (not mint), semi-sweet morsels, & butterscotch bits.
preheat the oven. 350 degrees.
dump & stir.
if you turn your mixer back on for just a sec, you'll get pretty candy coating confetti in the mix too... celebrate good times, come on.
spoon it into a pan.
press it all in.
squash it, crush it, pound it- do whatever it takes.
just get it all smoothed out & settled in for the big bake.
set your timer for
15 minutes.
stick your pressed pride into the oven.
my oven & my deep pan (& my dislike for too much gooey) resulted in the baking time increasing to about 20 min.
but you can check at 15 min. & see how yours is coming along.
when you pull it out of the oven, your candies should be nestled into a golden crust, still tender to the touch.
let cool on cooling rack.
pull up on your easy-clean-up foil edges.
heave the pleasantly heavy result onto the counter.
cut into delectable, prim & proper squares.
plant the goods in your favorite platter,
preferably transparent with a platform,
to display your handiwork & for the highest degree of temptation.
p.s. this recipe calls for a jelly roll pan that's 17" x 11 1/2 "... which not only do I not own, but consider to be rather gigantic. I cut the recipe in half and used an 8" x 11" dish. It yielded about 20 bars. But you can do whatever makes you happy.
p.p.s. happy birthday, audra! i'm so, so glad to have you as a sister. love you!
